
Class _^:^^\Mi'7 

Bonk ' P<9-A ^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSITS 



THE LURE OF LIFE 

LYRICS OF THE "ZEITGEIST" 



BY 
OLIVER OPP-DYKE f:^ev^ 

Author of The Unfathomable Sorrow, The 

Sonnet Psalms, The Omar Sonnets, The 

Lefra Lyrics, etc. 




BOSTON 
SHERMAN, FRENCH ^if COMPANY 

1910 



7& 3^^^ 



Copyi'ight, 1910 
Sherman, French & Company 



©CLA275820 



ri 



TO 

H. K. 
THE MASTER FRIEND 



PART I 



He's painting a picture — the Master Hand- 

And you and I are in it, 
I am not quite certain of where we stand, 
And I cannot tell its meaning grand. 

Nor why He did begin it. 

But of this I am sure as sure can be, — 

He would not have acquitted 
Himself with such wondrous artistry. 
Nor have figured forth full harmony 
If we had been omitted. 



[1] 



II 

I DO not know what sleep is, 

I cannot fathom love, 
I know not what the deep is. 

Or Heaven's blue above; 
I cannot tell what mind is, 

I cannot construe prayer, 
I know not what mankind is. 

Or God, though everywhere. 

I do not know what Breath is. 

And naught know I of Life, 
I cannot tell what Death is. 

Sure hidden in the strife ; 
But these, like those, I'm certain. 

Though now not understood. 
When Nature draws the curtain, 

Will show a purpose good. 



[2 



Ill 

When you and I are dead, Dear, 

Perhaps our dust shall be 
Commingled in a bed, Dear, 

Throughout eternity; 
And, haply, thence may grow. Dear, 

A rose or lilac-tree, 
So all the world may know. Dear, 

That we bide happily. 

Perhaps thou wouldst above. Dear, 

The giant oak should spring, — 
To symbolize our love, Dear, 

Before its withering; 
Or else the evergreen. Dear, 

That it may signify 
The permanent serene, Dear, 

Of love that cannot die. 

But, rather, I desire. Dear, 

That there should grow a vine 
To heaven to aspire. Dear, 

The while its boughs entwine, — 
So that our hidden clay, Dear, 

May yield new love such wine 
As other love one day, Dear, 

Provided thine and mine. 



[3] 



IV 

Where is my thought? — I would that I 

Might tell the very place! — 
So subtle 'tis, it doth belie 

The element of space. 

Where is my will? — Such query 'tis, 

Response I cannot show, — 
For where, or what, or why it is, 

Alas! I do not know. 

Where is my love? — Ah, now you ask 

What I can answer true, — 
My love, my Dear, — Oh, easy task I— 

Is evermore with you. 



[4] 



And some there be who neither do the work, 
Nor join the worshippers within the kirk, 

But when the wine is gone and lights are out 
Creep silently into Oblivion's murk. 

And those who frown upon the festive rout, 

And hopeful in the darkness peer about 

— Despite distrusts that unacknowledged 

lurk — 
Shall they the better fare for hushing doubt? 



[5] 



VI 

Yea, every rose must have its thorn 
Ere unto joy and beauty bom, 

To cheer and heighten purely; 
But every thorn that briskly blows 
Is not accompanied by a rose, — 

A bad arrangement surely ! 

And every love must have its hate, 
Before it can be good and great, 

And bless its own sincerely ; 
But every hate we whisper of 
Is not the partner of a love, 

But often hatred merely. 



[6] 



VII 

O SOME like the morning, and some like the 

night, 
And some like the gloaming that fringes the 

light; 
And some like the noontide when sun shineth 

clear, 
But I love the hours when you are near. 

O some like December, and some prefer June, 
And some like the Autumn's resplendent moon; 
And some like the Springtime the best of the 

year. 
But I love the time when you are here. 

O some like the mountain, and some like the 

sea. 
And some like the prairie's monotony : 
And some hke the city's perturbing tide. 
But I love the place where you abide. 

O some like the beautiful, true, and good, 
And some like the opposite brotherhood. 
And some like the mean between the two. 
But I take the course that you pursue. 



[T 



VIII 

A CLOUD-MIST, I desired to fly 
Unhindered in the highest sky. 

A clod, my atoms did aspire 

To know the diamond's brilliant fire. 

A plant, I spent my every power 
To realize the fairest flower. 

An animal, my only plan 
Was to become a perfect man. 

A man, each upward step is trod 
With hope one day to be a God. 



[8] 



IX 

I DO not know just where I stand 
In Life's gradation splendid, 

I know not what great end is planned, 
Or purpose high intended. 

But this is sure: — Grood soldiers ne'er, 
While battle's heat is raging. 

Remain in camp to argue there 
The reason for engaging. 



[9 



She died, and at the sepulchre we stood, 

In somber sackcloth girt, with grieving 
hushed. 

The while the priest in sacerdotal hood 
Said, "Ashes unto ashes, dust to dust." 

My heart — myself — with mixed emotion rife — 
The earth below, the sanguine skies above. 

Replied, "Ah no, but rather, 'Life to Life, 
And Spirit unto Spirit, Love to Love.' " 



[10] 



XI 

Is THERE a meaningful design 

That through the whole doth run? 
Is there direction all divine 

In sky and earth and sun? 
Shall I at some immortal shrine — 

Life's laurels being won — 
Greet thee anew and call thee mine 

In love again begun? 
I trust with trust none can define, 

Though surety there be none, 
That our two tiny flames shall shine 

When all the stars are done. 



[H] 



XII 

The sailor away from his heaving sea 
Hath tasted the cup of misery; 
The Arab deprived of his shining sands, 
Remorse and longing understands ; 
The Switzer, of Alpine height bereft, 
For life and love hath nothing left, — 
To all some person or place or thing 
Superlative bliss and joy can bring. 
Whose absence doth contrariwise bestow 
Dejection that naught can overthrow. 

Yet none of them know 

The depth of woe. 
My heart and my soul both undergo 
When Fortune, my Loved One, doth decree, 
That you and I shall parted be. 



[12] 



XIII 

" The leaves of life keep falling one by one" — 
Ah, yes, and soon the little tale is done; 
But each gives place, that brighter than 
before. 
May shine through unleafed boughs the con- 
stant sun. 
And as the light illumes the forest floor, 
What radiant hues unto the heavens soar! — 
What glories, mute till dropping was be- 
gun. 
Attuned, ensouled, their beauties now out- 
pour. 



[13] 



XIV 

He gave you Eyes that you may see 

His handiwork divine, — 
The sky, the earth, the flower, the tree. 

The stars that constant shine. 

He gave you Ears that you may hear 
The lark, the wind, the sea. 

The strains eternal that ensphere 
Abysmal harmony. 

He gave you Heart that you may feel 

The kinship and the love. 
That unto humankind reveal 

Its debts to Him above. 

He gave you Soul that you may know 

Yourself to be a god. 
Bound Heavenward evermore to grow 

From embryonic clod. 



[14] 



XV 

I ASKED of Music what its charm is for, 

It sweetly sang, "Your childhood to restore." 

I asked of Mirth its end to indicate. 
It laughed aloud, "To make your heart 
elate." 

I asked of Prayer to make its object clear. 
It whispered soft, "To call the future near." 

I asked of Tears what mission theirs could be, 
" To freshen wastes within," they said to me. 

I asked Anxiety its meaning just. 
Response at once it gave, "To make you 
trust." 

I asked of Doubt its uses to relate. 

It answered thus, "To make you meditate." 

I asked of Hardship, what its hidden aim, 
" To make you fight," the answer quickly came. 

I asked of Death its purpose dire and dread, 
" To startle you with mystery," it said. 

Enough, indeed! No farther will I go. 
The rest like these a purpose good will show. 

[15] 



XVI 



I'm not concerned about the path 
From cradle to the grave, 

The only care my spirit hath 
Is how I must behave. 



[16] 



XVII 

The old world's heart is gladsome, 
Despite the clouds and tears, — 

Its rhythmic beat triumphant 
To glorious victory cheers. 

I hear it in the bird-song, 

I hear it in the tide, 
I hear it in the pulse-beat 

Of heathered mountain side. 

I see it in the clover, 

I see it in the corn, 
I see it in the dew-drop 

On every happy morn. 

I feel it in your heart-throb, 

I feel it in your smile, 
I feel it in the hand-shake 

That we exchange the while. 



[17] 



XVIII 

Of all the men that I have met, 
One only I cannot forget. 
The seer I honor; wit, admire; 
I laud the genius for his fire; 
The manual worker I adore ; 
I praise the artist evermore. 

But after all is said and done, 

Of earth's great men there's only one 

Stands out indelibly supreme — 

The realization of a dream — 

— I do not mean the man who gives 

A lofty love because he lives — 

I sing the man who lives because 

He loves divinely without pause. 



[18] 



XIX 

I ASKED the Oracle whence I came, 
And whither my way is bound, — 

" From Home" — did the ominous lips pro- 
claim, — 

" To Home, thy steps lead round." 

Again I queried what I should be. 
And what I should try to do, — 
" Yourself !" — came the answer instantly. 
And "Serve your brother true!" 



[19] 



XX 

The world to us is dearer far I trow — 
Howe'er we turn our backs upon the show — 

(Half -hoping better things are yet to be) 
Than we should care to have each other know. 

The serf who feels the excellent ecstacy 
Of Alpine height and depth continuously, 

Turns grimly from th' inspiring scene to go 
Afar on Ocean's mute monotony. 



[20] 



XXI 

I KNOW the Lily's lofty white — 
Insignia of diviner Light, — 
But fairer far do all avow 
Is Lefra's brow. 

I know the Violet's velvet blue, — 
Fac-simile of Heaven's hue, — 
But bluer than this fleck of skies 
Are Lefra's eyes. 

I know the Rose's luscious red,— 
Auroral glory, flower bred, — 
But redder, sweeter. Love equips 
My Lefra's lips. 



[21] 



XXII 

Digging away, night and day, 
Seeking the ore that hidden lay 

Within the earth, 

A million's worth, — 
Nothing but death the work can stay. 

When it is found in rich abound, 
Harder than ever the miners pound, — 

None must be lost, 

Whate'er the cost 
In life and suffering underground. 

Alas ! who can, in life's brief span, 
Recall an effort since time began 

One tenth as strong. 

One tenth as long. 
To find the hidden gold in man. 



[22] 



XXIII 

I LOOKED upon the firmament 

And saw the starry gold, 
God's handiwork a glory sent — 

A beauty never told. 
I had a longing reverent, 

My life henceforth to mold 
To match the splendors opulent. 

The blues above us hold. 

But lo ! — while thus beneath the spell 
Of prayer I had not spoken, — 

More quickly than my words can tell- 
As if some fatal token — 

A meteor beside me fell — 
My orison was broken ! 



[23] 



XXIV 

He is a man who armed with honor's might, 
Dares face the foe undauntedly to fight, 
Who yet doth in the battle's furious fray 
The magic touch of feminine display. 

And she a woman who, with charm and grace. 
Bestows a radiance on the darkest place. 
Who yet confronted with disaster can 
Exhibit traits that well become a man. 

Thus both are rescued from the realm of brute. 
Both thus enthrone a power absolute; 
The qualities of both in each must blend, 
That they may find and serve their highest end. 



[24] 



XXV 

An animal — I think that I 
Must get the good before I die. 

A man — I think I should essay 
To do the good as best I may. 

A spirit — I can understand 

To be the good is God's command. 



[26] 



XXVI 

How calm the stars, far greater than our own, 
Shed down the same cold light that long has 
shone, 
Upon the traveler sinking in the sea. 
Or lost upon the mountain trails alone. 

Our passionate pursuit must seem to be 
The dust-cloud of a futile pageantry, 

And as we hope and smile, or strive and 
moan. 
They view the ferment but indifferently. 



[26] 



XXVII 

Nothing truly can we know 
Till we've lost or left it, — 

Love we have we never show 
Fully till bereft it. 

Childhood was a happy dream, 

But we never knew it 
Till it fled, and Memory's gleam 

Helped us to review it. 

Youth could soon have realized 

All its keen ambition, 
Had we then as now surmised 

Half its holy mission. 

Manhood's struggles would have been 
Stronger, had we fought them 

With the purpose and the ken 

Closing years have brought them. 

Retrospect thus glorified 

Never can deceive us ; 
When upon this earthly side 

Breath and body leave us. 

Well I know we then shall read 
Life's whole volume newly, — 

Having which, we lost indeed. 
Losing, we learn truly. 

[27] 



XXVIII 

" What is he worth? " " What does he know? " 
" Who were his parents, pray?" 
Are these the queries by which we show 
Man's proper place to-day? 

Ah no, a new one doth not appraise 

As these three never can, — 
'Tis " What does he thinkr' that now-a-days 

We ask about a man. 



[28] 



XXIX 

Over the land and over the sea 
He traveled in search of health, 

On doctors of great and grand degree 
He lavished a load of wealth; 

And each had a new Latin name to give, 

And all of them said he could not live! 

Returning to curse his luckless fate. 

He came beneath the spell 
Of one who purged his heart of hate, 
And straightway he was well! 
"Stop hate! Take love!"— not a syllable 
more — 
Was the only prescription that could restore. 



[29] 



XXX 

I KNOW not what may come to pass, 
Adown the swath of time, — 

If tares be growing in the grass. 
Or roses in their prime; 

If serpent's hiss await, alas ! — 
Or songster's merry chime. 

Nor do I crave the distant view. 

With harvesters a-field; 
I only ask to labor true. 

My sickle so to wield. 
That I, when reaping all is through. 

Be worthy of the yield. 



[SO] 



XXXI 

The man who reasons I admire, 

The man who sings I seek, 
The man who doth with art inspire 

I worship, low and meek. 

The man who toils I reverence. 

The man who dares I praise. 
The man who serves with deference 

I honor all my days. 

The man who earns, I eulogize; 

The man who shares I laud, 
The man who gives the righteous prize 

I heartily applaud. 

The man whose sorrows I condole, 

The man who laughs I cheer, 
The man with pity in his soul 

Supremely I revere. 

The man who keeps the faith, I bless ; 

The man who trusts, I crown ; 
The man who loves with heart's whole stress 

Of God shall have renown. 



[31 



XXXII 

A MAN must work for his fellow man. 
And serve his God above, — 

A man must do all the good he can, 
And most of all must love! 



[32] 



XXXIII 

She has no navies on the seas, 

No ghttering arms are hers, 
She claims no foreign colonies. 

No royalty confers ; 
She cannot boast of hidden gold, 

No fertile plains has she. 
Her history cannot be told 

In bloody tracery. 

Of worthier things her record reads,- 

Fair words of lofty theme, — 
Of legends wherein conscience pleads 

And virtue is supreme. 
Of nations as of men 'tis true — 

No one can feel a law 
Till some one holds up to their view 

A conscience without flaw. 



[33] 



XXXIV 

Time was, I strove to find a way 

To save my soul, 
Unsmirched by Life's distrustful day, 

Entire and whole. 

But wiser now, I fearful sit 

And urgently 
Implore my soul, if I be fit, 

To rescue me ! 



[34] 



XXXV 

Some see Him in the clearness, 
Some see Him in the rain, 

Some understand His nearness 
By tarn or hill or plain. 

Some hear Him in the bird-song, 
Some hear Him in the breeze. 

By some He has been heard long 
In voices of the seas. 

Some feel Him in the morning, 
Some feel Him in the night. 

Some sense His rich adorning 
When blues are beaming bright. 

Whatever things reveal Him, 
When we His wonders scan, 

I see and hear and feel Him 
And I know Him best in Man. 



[35] 



XXXVI 

No HOARY-HEADED age I cravc, 

No lonely meditation, 
No useless rest before the grave, 

Of dull disintegration. 

But rather in the battle's heat, 
With force and faith unshaken, 

Intent upon the foe's defeat. 
Would I by Death be taken. 



[36] 



XXXVII 

When I was cursed with penury, 
He shared the friendly dole; 

When illness weakened painfully 
His loving made me whole; 

And when dejection burdened me 
He comforted my soul. 

But now that fortune and success, 
Good health and spirits free, 

Continually my being bless, 
Abundant in degree — 

Doth he his love still firm confess 
And lend his sympathy? 

'Tis easy when our friends are low. 

To give a helpful love. 
But can we worthy friendship show 

When they arise above? 
True sympathy not only means 

With those beneath to weep. 
But also to rejoice when they 

The higher places keep. 



[37] 



XXXVIII 

I SAW a mountain pierce the sky in sole sub- 
limity. 

Upon its summit reigned the snow and at its 
base the sea; 

The glaciers melted on its sides, the clouds 
above it flowed. 

From gem to boulder every wealth of mineral 
it showed; 

The lichen, moss, and sea-weed, and the oak 
and orchid rare. 

With all their flavored kith and kin were grow- 
ing grandly there. 

As well as every animal in evolution's span, — 

From the microscopic protozoan to philo- 
sophic man; 

And midway on its height there stood, as 
springing from its heart. 

An instrument to understand the wondrous 
heaven's chart. 

The treasures of the universe it held within its 

sphere. 
The kingdoms of creation all were intermingled 

here; 
Dependent each on each they grew, yet each 

alone attained 
Perfection of its kind and like a separate 

monarch reigned. 

[38] 



Undemocratic Nature by its vast diversity 
Had bound in holy union there the earth and 
sky and sea. 

God's greatest law upon the mountain is 

exemplified : 
A limitless gradation mutual service must 

provide, 
No leveling of the ranks can be the species to 

efface, 
But each retaining of its own must yield the 

other place. 



[39] 



XXXIX 

The war is fought, its deeds are soon forgot, 
Few now bewail the victim's bitter lot, 

But still the principle it gave may pass 
Forever on, nor lose of worth one jot. 

Yea, men must die and wither as the grass, 
In spite of worldly hoard they may amass, 
Though still their deeds live on and vanish 
not — 
If good, to bless ; if ill, to curse, alas ! 



[40] 



XL 

I SLEPT upon a downy bed, 

I had abundant gold, 
To high position was I bred 

And luxury untold; 
But strange, — when I was Lord of Earth 
My skepticism had its birth! 

My pillow was a wayside stone. 

Midst mockeries and scorns 
I wandered friendless and alone. 

And wore a crown of thorns. 
But lo ! — when I was Least of Earth 
My faith in God was given birth. 



[41] 



XLI 

Her eyes are closed, her folded hands are 

cold, 
No sweet endearment by her lips is told, 
And as I kiss the pallid face, 

And bathe it with my tears, 
I can discern no solemn trace 
Of life beyond the years. 
Howe'er I urge, in maddening grief's firm 

hold. 
No word to me the Silence can unfold. 

Time past, away from her, no peace I knew 
If her sweet message failed to come when 
due, — 
So lonely for her care was I; 
But she would write to me, — 
" No news is good news ; Sonny, try 

To live more hopefully." 
Ah, would that she, there in my tear-dimmed 

view 
Could tell me now, " I live and hope is true." 



[42] 



XLII 

No MATTER what he may possess. 
In money or in brains ; 

No matter what he may profess 
Of blue blood in his veins ; 

He cannot do his duty well 
Upon this motley earth, 

Until he learns he must excel 
Forgetful of his worth. 



[43J 



XLIII 

How dim the lights that glow upon the shore, 
The sounds, how dull, that echo in the blore, 

And you and I in silent dark's career 
As artists blind, musicians deaf, — no more! 

O shall we sometime see the picture clear, — 
Shall we the perfect music ever hear? 

Are there realities yet to explore. 
Or just paralysis, prolonged, austere? 



[44] 



XLIV 

Every time I see a cloud 
Threatening over head, 

Thoughts of sunshine on me crowd 
Bringing peace instead. 

Every time I feel a thorn 

Pricking as it blows, 
Perfume on the air is born, 

Beauty of the rose. 

Every time I know the night 
Darkening, dull and dread, — 

Dreams of morn are my delight 
Breaking brilliant red. 

Every time I suffer pain 
Causing heart to cower. 

Then my soul, by godly gain, 
Realizes power. 



[45] 



XLV 

Lefra is my morning, 
Lef ra is my day, — 

Lefra is adorning 
All my worldly way. 

Lefra is my sunshine, 

Lefra is my rose, 
Lefra has undone mine 

Power of repose. 

Lefra is my moonbeam, 

Lefra is my star, 
Lefra's love doth soon seem 

Near, when borne afar. 

Lefra's all my being, 
Lefra's all my love, 

Lefra's all my seeing 
When I look above. 



[46] 



XLVI 

Love is a remedy, Love is a cure, 
Love will forever and ever endure ; 
Love is a balsam, Love is a balm. 
Love is the soul of a Deity's calm ; 
Love is a longing. Love is a prayer, 
Love is fulfilment beyond compare; 
Love is our living. Love is our breath, 
Love is the power that vanquishes death; 
Love is our Heaven, Love is our God, 
Love is the path the Angels have trod ; 
Love was the First, and the Last will be, 
Love is ideal Reality. 



[47] 



XLVII 

Oh, a dapper soldier boy is he, 

When he's out on dress parade, — 
And the people shout admiringly. 
While he marches as proud as proud can be 
In lace of gold arrayed. 

Oh, his head is high, and his shoulders square, 

And he's one of his country's sights, — 
But when he's away from the festive glare. 
And the smoke of battle fills all the air, — 
I wonder how he fights ! 



[48] 



XLVIII 

I SAW the flowers, I saw the skies, 
And thanked my God that I had eyes ; 
I heard the melodies of the spheres. 
And thanked my God that I had ears ; 
I read from Nature of Mankind, 
And thank Him for the Light of Mind; 
I felt the Christ-Love through me start, 
And thanked Him that I had a Heart. 



[49] 



XLIX 

The gentle paw, all velveted, 

The nose a-sniffing breezes, 
The ears erect on handsome head, 
The tail a-wag, the teeth wide spread, 
The eager eye for vigil bred — 
How well the picture pleases ! 

And yet 'twas not his shaggy gray, 

Nor yet his honest feature, 
'Twas not his unobtrusive way, 
His friskiness when I was gay. 
His sympathy on darker day, — 

For which I prized the creature. 

I used to think his faithfulness 

The thing that made me love him. 
Or else perhaps the crude caress 
With which he seemed to try to bless 
A master who — let truth confess — 
Was not a jot above him. 

But now that he no more returns 

When I — forgetting! — call him. 
My heart with grief in silence yearns. 
And all my mind with anger burns, 
As it the belief reflects and spurns. 
That man in dog no soul discerns — 
Such nonsense would appall him. 

[60] 



I rather think, perhaps, that he, — 

If I could now consult him, — 
Would bark aloud with doggish glee, 
• No whit of soul in man can be, 
If he denies the thing to me. 

For only soul the soul can see ! " 

And, faith, I fancy you'll agree 
The barking would exult him! 



[51] 



Lefra is my sunshine, 
Lefra is my flower, 
Lefra is the one shrine 
That begets my power. 

Lefra is my rain-cloud, 
Lefra is my shower, 
Lefra is the pain-shroud 
Under which I cower. 



[52] 



LI 

My MIND reviews the past with grief and shame, 
It peers into the future tremblingly; 

The present doth determinedly proclaim 
Out-voicing both regret and augury — 

" No compromise with Nature can there be — 
'Twill haunt you with remorse, and blight 
with blame, 

'Twill wither you with tragic certainty, 
Till termless you surrender to its aims ! " 



[53] 



LII 

If all of Lefra's charms were sold, 
No price would I consider, — 

For every one the crier told 
I'd be the highest bidder. 

Her fetching eyes, her glorious hair, 
Her cheeks with color glowing 

Would bankrupt every trillionaire 
And keep him ever owing. 

And yet not half as much they'd bring 
As Lefra's lips, I'm thinking, — 

A font of love from nectared spring 
Whence I'd be ever drinking! 



[64] 



LIII 

I'm reading a book within a nook 

Of God's great universe, 
Its pages teem with lofty theme, 

Its style is rich and terse. 

As yet I'm not far in the plot, 

With all its mystery: 
How it will close, e'en if I chose, 

I could not turn to see. 

Before I die it may be I 

Shall have, if prayers direct, 
The preface done, and chapter one, 

No more can I expect. 

The hindrance rife of earthly strife 

Obscures its holy worth, — 
For the book is called " The Book of Life," 

The nook is called " The Earth." 



[55] 



LIV 

Jealousy, anger, fear, and hate, 
Deception, doubt, and lust 

Are the only germs that can create 
Disease in our wayward dust. 



[56 



LV 

If I were a fairy and you a queen, 
What magical things I'd do ! — 

I'd fly to your nectared lips, unseen. 
And sip their honey dew, — 

And then I would go by crimson flow 
To the center of your heart. 

That I might know what love you show 
By studying the chart. 

And if I should see a bit for me. 
Oh, then I would stay fore'er. 

And heal the smarts of Cupid's darts 
That constantly enter there! 



[57] 



LVI 

The world is wronged, its hope ignored, 
By him who earns that he may hoard; 
And life is lost to evil end 
By him who earns that he may spend; 
But God is known, and men re-live 
Through him who earns to wisely give. 



[68] 



LVII 

I PRESSED afar in the bitter North, 
As the storm-blast bore its arrows forth, — 
But nothing I knew of the colds that blew, 
For I was wayfaring there with you. 

I traveled afar to the gentle south, 

Where Nature lay prostrate in dusty drouth, — 

But I little could see of its injury. 

For you were sojourning there with me. 

I walked away to the glowing East, 
As the fiery fury of sun increased, — 
But no burning blue my spirit knew. 
For I was wandering there with you. 

I journeyed away to the lowering West, 
Where rains were raging and waters pressed, — 
But indifferently I viewed the sea, 
For you were voyaging there with me. 

Whate'er the direction, the weather, the time, 
Whate'er the condition, the distance, the clime, 
All hindrance I conquer, all danger subdue. 
When I am accompanied, my Dear One, by you. 



[59] 



LVIII 

Lefra slept upon a bed 
Of daffodils and roses red; 
A honey-bee, on duty bent, 
Ignored the color and the scent 
The flowers with temptation lent. 
And took his fill of sugared sips 
From Lefra's more seductive lips. 



[60] 



LIX 

I WAS not his master, but comrade and friend, 
At home or abroad, each on each did attend; 
All pleasures, all griefs, with each other we 

shared. 
And both for the Good, True, and Beautiful 

cared. 

We were of one flesh and one spirit designed, — 
We differed, perhaps, in degree, not in kind; 
Our hearts beat in concord, our love was so true, 
The soul of the one seemed the soul of the two. 

But Death has bereft me. I weep now alone ; 
For part of myself from the mansion is flown, 
And journeys Perfection-ward nature's high- 
way: 
The tears then are selfish, but naught can allay. 

O shall we no more roam the copsewood and dale, 
O'er mountain and moorland, through forest 

and vale ? 
Shall those tender eyes no more look into mine 
With meaning impossible not to divine .^^ 

Shall bark that protected no more rend the air, 
Or paw that caressed nevermore with me fare? 
Does that which translates by remolding the 

clay. 
Estrange kindred natures, their love throw 

away ? 

[61] 



Companion of youth and of manhood the guide, 

Our love shall forever and ever abide, — 

No matter what vesture henceforth we may 

wear, 
As re-incarnations we severally share. 

Around the Great Cycle no rest shall there be 
Till I have found you. Rex, and you have found 

me; 
For lovers whose love Death can never defeat. 
Despite change external, shall knowingly meet. 



[62] 



LX 

The sun is shining high and warm and clear, 
And happiness and light seem ever near, — 
Yet naught but darkness meets the troubled 
view 
When I into the dark horizon peer. 

Ah, someone looking upward in the blue 
Sees that horizon with the brilliant hue 

My zenith glows withal; my sunny cheer 
Is dusk to him, though long he gaze and true. 



[63] 



PART II 



A PUPPET dangling from a string, 

The ends of which are mystery; 

A point obscure upon the ring 

Surrounding human history ; 

A bubble frail upon the sea, 

A zephyr light, a fleeting breath, 

An atom of infinity, — 

A creature born but for his death, — 

An indistinct and flying shade, 

The tool of fickle circumstance, 

A serf for true subjection made — 

A being victimized by Chance: 

Even such as this the fated span 

For better name called " Life of Man." 



[67J 



II 

His own designer through the race, 

The end of which all comprehend; 

A writer bold upon the face 

Of history's page, — his deeds descend. 

A man-of-war on ocean's breast, 

Adjuster of the winds that blow; 

An atom? Yea, but fully blest. 

And one that doth to heaven grow. 

A shining and a constant light. 

And master of his happy day, — 

A king on earth whose every plight 

Is overcome by regal sway, — 

Just such as this the gracious span 

Which angels call " The Life of Man." 



[68] 



Ill 

Whichever view appeals to you, 
You may in welcome take it ; 
But life is true, — whate'er you do 
You cannot make or break it. 



[69] 



IV 

A MYSTERY of Space long aeons past 
Was shaken by an energy supreme 
Called God or " X," and into it was cast 
Trillions of orbs, which yet with motion teem. 
And one at least of these — the motley earth — 
In vegetation showed the parent flame, 
Which, after countless ages of rebirth. 
The reptile, bird, and animal became. 
Then upward on the slow evolving scale 
The force divine advanced, until at last 
The form of man became its coat of mail, — 
The great epitome of all its past. 
Its course complete, its strength by death re- 
newed. 
Again through time the cycle is pursued. 



[70] 



Eternal Space and Silence Absolute, — 
Unknown and unimaginably vast, — 
In embryo all animation mute 
Of future and immeasurable past. 
The time when worlds their potencies recruit, — 
The cyclic rest, creation's first and last, — 
Peace, perfect peace, — God's greatest attrib- 
ute — 
Sourced here, sent hence, and hither re-amassed. 
O crucial Calm ! What pregnancy is thine ! 
What dawn, what day, what glorious eventide, 
Is promised in this universal sleep 
Deserved by labors, highest of divine. 
Required for labors, herein prophesied, — 
The boundless shore of Life's Eternal Deep! 



[Ti] 



VI 

Great Brahma breathes ! — And thus there 

dawns the day! 
The elemental force in swift array 
Doth first across the awful Silence sway, 
Full-charged with hope for future's weighted 

way. 
Love's first fine demonstration is at hand — 
The pattern here of every form of clay — 
Here too the law which doth the whole com- 
mand — 
And here true power and peace, for who obey! 
First motif of the play divinely planned. 
Ethereal thrill by which the vast is fanned. 
Oh, what unf oldment of the astral grand 
Doth ready on creation's threshold stand ! 
And you and I did with the life-mist surge — 
And onward move within the cosmic urge. 



[72] 



VII 

Hurled from the nebulas of blessed birth 
The worlds were born, — each one as full en- 
dowed 
With power for its mission as it plowed 
Through undisturbed Space — that yet the 

Earth, — 
Far-moved descendant from the heavenly 

hearth — 
Not half its destined mission hath avowed ; 
Nor have the universes yet allowed 
The music of their spheres to sound its worth. 
No River Ocean, like a serpent wound, — 
No yawning Chaos with its Mass and Void 
And Erebus, with under-world employed, — 
Nor pagan myth, nor Christian, can expound. 
Religious science doth the lineage tell, 
The science of religion visions well. 



[73] 



VIII 

Hail, Infinite Potentiality 

Of sensate Matter, Manifested Soul ! — 

Expression of the universal whole, 

The agent of man's immortality! 

Each atom is a principality ! 

Of vanished worlds: and evolution's roll 

Exacts from each the precious guiding toll — 

Experience — purchased for spirality. — - 

The poets and the scientists can tell 

Of mineral consciousness ; for they commune 

With open minds, — they only know full well 

The meaning of the ocean's tireless tune. 

The grandeur of the noble Alpine swell. 

The pulsing and the throbbing of the June. 



[74] 



IX 

The wish divine in vegetation sprang, 
Adorned the dust, the Brahmic hope renewed; 
And verdure first its holy anthem sang, 
Sweet odors all the atmosphere imbued. 
Then colors smiled, full graciously subdued — 
A future precious sense to gratify, — 
And waved, world unto world, their vari-hued 
Assent with parent purpose to comply: 
For deep within each monad then did lie. 
As now, the power inherited, of thought, — 
Flower unto flower in ecstasy can cry. 
With universal mind each petal fraught. 
Each slender blade its aspiration knows. 
And every thorn looks upward to the rose. 



[T5.] 



Forced forward by the Energy Divine, 
Investitured anew, the same in kind. 
The flame doth with a fuller radiance shine 
And forward lights to nobler works designed. 
No power its stately progress can confine. 
No stage from which the view, before, behind. 
Shows not that all doth spirally incline 
And focuses unto The Cosmic Mind. 
The animal in summary doth consist 
Of vestiges of flower and clod and mist. 
But chief est value of first flesh is this : 
The germ of man doth dormant here exist. 
Though mind and consciousness are yet amiss, 
The Higher Essence bridges the abyss. 



[76] 



XI 

And man appears ! — No Genesitic lore 
His history, time, and origin can tell, — 
No will external out of nothing bore 
The frame in which Divinity doth dwell ; 

With primal dust remolded and refined, 

With atom's atoms sourced in mystery, — 

With end by inner Deity designed, 

With debted Cosmic consanguinity, — 

A part of God's Forever standeth he. 

Whose first, whose last, no mortal eye can see ; 

Of all before complete epitome, 

The promise full of all that is to be. 

From height to depth he came by high decree, 

From depth to height he goes in victory. 



[77] 



XII 

Of seven Deities the Ancients knew, 

And seven men did Grecian lore engross ; 

Of seven colors is the rainbow's hue, 

With seven words Christ died upon the cross. 

But seven spheres made music long ago, — 

With seven strings the ancient lyre was strung. 

But seven tones the human voice may show, 

In sevens is the subtle sonnet sung. 

By sevens is our temple organized ; 

Each seven years the whole is made anew, 

Yet seven ages 'tis, ere realized; 

By seven principles man builds it true, — 

The form, the wraith, the life, and the desire, 

Then Mind and Soul, and last, the Spirit Fire. 



[78] 



XIII 

Peefection of materiality, 

Devised to be the principality 

Of mind and soul, until they shall attain 

To God's in their deserved finality. 

The ant, the elephant, the sun, the rain, 

The tree, the daisy, every ocean grain. 

Is part of thee. — Thou only in survey 

Canst view and understand thy vast domain. 

Impermanent and transitory clay ! — 

How long so'er as body thou mayst stay, 

Not on thyself depends. Thou rather must 

Subjected be, and other lives obey. 

Vain man, to place in thee his only trust — 

Thou fleeting, void, illusionary dust! 



[79] 



XIV 

Before the form, the model must appear, 

Whate'er the kingdom, high or low the sphere ; 

Ideal the dreams ! — Realities express, 

However deft, approximation mere. 

Yet after all the struggle and the stress, 

What art soe'er the product may possess. 

Within the vision had its origin, — 

The agent of its life and worthiness. 

The astral body clothed with " coat of skin," 

Denotes that strife in man doth new begin. 

To lift on high the dense, degraded mass, — 

To realize redemption from his sin. 

Each painted canvas must the last surpass. 

Till with the masters it is fit to class. 



[80 



XV 

A SWIMMER I upon Life's surging sea, 

With lusty mind and body buffeting, 

In hopes, perchance, myself at last to bring 

To refuge or to mighty mastery. 

But if I cease my urging energy. 

Then in and through and round the waters 

spring. 
Absorbing and destroying everything. 
Which they sustained and aided formerly. 
Life everywhere ! — The universal tide 
Eternally pervading cosmic space, — 
In which the suns and all their systems bide. 
Which, sourced in One Reality, doth grace 
With breath and being and sentient power's 

pride. 
Which yet the vibrant function doth erase. 



[81] 



XVI 

All sense perfected, every appetite 
Developed to be governed or to reign : 
Desire and passion, hunger, thirst, and pain, - 
The ape and tiger in us, — bring the Wight, 
And doom us to an everlasting night. 
Or, mastered, help the fuller day to gain. 
Ay, grosser these than matter's dull domain, 
Which is but shell for lust's accursed spite. 
Which shall it be, at this, the Janus stage 
Of all the long and weary pilgrimage, — 
The height to God and holy brotherhood. 
Or depth to hell and its damned heritage.? 
Here every demon, downward longing, stood, - 
Here every Christ yearned to the good. 



[82] 



XVII 

The breath required a form : the Fathers gave ; 
The Breath desired a body: Earth did mold; 
The Breath the Spirit of Life wished to enfold, 
The Gods 'gan with the vital power to lave. 
The Breath a mirror of its form did crave, 
' We gave it our own," the Holy Masters told ; 
The Breath an Agent of Desire would hold, 
' It has it," said the Dreamers of the Wave. 
But Breath needs Mind, the Universe t' embrace. 
Ah, that, the Fathers said, they could not give: 
Earth has it not ; were the Great Fire to grace. 
The form would be consumed — it could not 

live! 
And man remains the senseless phantom bred. 
Until the Light of Monarch Mind is shed. 



[83] 



XVIII 

An instrument with imperfection fraught 

Gave forth a marvelous excellence of tone, 

Because the hand by which the air was wrought 

Was skilled beyond all earthly power known. 

An instrument, though crudely, 'twas designed. 

Ensouled by genius, uttered melody 

That full bespoke the player's mystic mind, 

Enchanting with its wondrous artistry. 

An instrument for masterpieces made, — 

Of faultless mechanism and complete, — 

The artist of supremest power played 

A holy harmony, surpassing sweet. 

The instruments are Body, Mind, and Soul; 

The player, God; and Life of Man, the whole. 



[84] 



XIX 

Let there be light ! — The heavenly command 
No sooner given than the splendor grand 
Sheds forth in glory all its golden ray, 
Till every inmost atom can be scanned, 
Within the wayward tenement of clay. 
Which built in readiness in former day 
Shows forth God's holiest handiwork anew, — 
Illumined, glorified, in His array. 
But whether it can long retain the hue. 
Or whether darkness will its glow ensue. 
And where the place the radiance shall spend 
And why the precious brilliance fades from 

view, — 
Ah, these do not upon its Source depend. 
But 'tis the use that prophesies the end. 



[86] 



XX 

Man here may break asunder from the Source 

And live a time as base, unbridled brute, 

The while he spreads putresence on his course, 

Then perishes to be forever mute. 

Or man may here the Janus coward play, — 

Aspire to good as well as stoop to sin ; 

Unless the foes he can in victory slay. 

He must again endure the battle's din. 

From here the Son may to the Father rise, — 

Life after life the struggle to be rid 

Of blind, deceptive elements supplies 

The Light whose brilliance never can be hid; 

And, joined at last unto the parent ray. 

It can for others show the higher way. 



[86] 



XXI 

He played the role as master of his art ; 

Identified with character portrayed. 

Imbued with every detail of the part, 

Till it alone existed, soul-arrayed. 

And he was not ; thus from the brilliant start 

Unto triumphant end the actor played ; 

Then rest he yearned, for weary mind and 

heart, — 
For strength whence higher successes could be 

made. 
But lo, the sleep was visioned beauteously 
With all the drama's height and depth and 

power, — 
What was, what might have been, what yet 

must be. 
Were dreamed and dreamed through each noc- 
turnal hour. 
So rapt was he, the glorious vision staid 
Until anew the role must be essayed. 



[87] 



XXII 

Around — around the cycle must he plod, 
If he would share the glory of his God. 
Nor will his fretting profit him a whit, 
As well they know who have in triumph trod. 
Each little journey makes him better fit, — 
To know the greater one and finish it, — 
For upward on the spiral is he bound, 
Though downward-longing may delay a bit. 
No solace for the sojourner is found, — 
No kind companion can the way expound, — 
No giving up what higher powers begin, — 
No hastening to the throne where he is 

crowned, — 
A traveler bound, who cannot enter in 
Till he has stripped himself of every sin. 



[88] 



XXIII 

The full manasic ray, O Atma, send 

With such a luter to my lower plane, 

That I may by its brilliancy attain 

A glimpse of that I long to comprehend. 

Let such resplendent radiance attend, 

That far adown the vistas I may gain 

Illumination for the path that fain 

I would speed upward to the gloried end- 

And then — O then, — Attuned entire with 

Thee, — 
Necessity's deserved cycle trod, — 
Of Kama master, absolute of Mind, — 
Shall I light on and guide humanity, 
Which, struggling in the wheel, aspires to God, 
And earns the right Mahatma-ship to find. 



[89] 



XXIV 

Forever constant the effulgent ray, — 
All powerless to modify its light; 
What seemeth, in its splendor, flare or flight 
Is sourced from Kama-Manas in the clay. 
What art so perfect but expression may 
Be silenced by the instrument's poor plight? 
What sun so luminous but cirrus slight 
Can dull or soil or dissipate for aye? 
Thou know'st the Karmic law, and must abide,- 
Thy progress in the journey lieth here; 
'Tis thou alone mak'st answer to thy prayer. 
Close fast the door against the lower side, — 
Ope wide the portal of the higher sphere, — 
Behold me waiting ready for thee there ! 



[90] 



XXV 

Religions all I sought to find a key 

Which would unlock the choicest of their 

store, — 
The truth that forms their universal core. 
O'erwhelmed with creeds' disquieting crudity, 
Within the realms of contradictory 
Interpretation lost, made deaf by roar 
Of flames which sank in embered martyr's 

gore — 
My quest I kept till clearly I could see — 
Renunciation — common stock of all. 
Of gods whose deeds do godliness proclaim, 
Of Buddha, Krishna, Christ, — whate'er the 

name, 
Of every sainted martyr, great or small, — 
Of you and me, first striving to attain, 
And then renouncing self for others' gain! 



[91] 



XXVI 

By Buddha, Vishnu, Zoroaster, Christ, 
Mohammed, Krishna, Virgin, Father, God, — 
And others have our hearts been oft enticed 
In worship, that the journey to be trod. 
And all the burdens 'neath whose weight we bow 
Be easier, lighter, purposeful and blest. 
And that the end some promise show us now 
Of haven of peace and joy to be possessed. 
But dialects of one great language these: 
The universal tongue that all may know 
Who thirst for knowledge that they may ap- 
pease 
Desire for converse 'twixt the high and low. 
And not as spoken but as understood 
Doth speech inspire response both wise and 
good. 



[92] 



XXVII 

Our life is like an ever open book, 
Which tells a serial story from its source; 
Behind, before, we always long to look, 
Desiring to revise its ordered course. 
Preceding parts have made us as we are. 
Succeeding pages on our light depend; 
Thus mortal power sheds its ray afar. 
And every thought is master of the end. 
Then with the page assigned be thou content 
Take up the task and read before 'tis gone, - 
Whatever ill inheritance is sent, 
Replace it with thy good and pass it on. 
Reward is great in our eternal home 
According as we find and leave the tome. 



[93] 



XXVIII 

Mere notes in life's great symphony are we, 
Of every changing value, shade, and tone. 
Possessing nought of music's charm alone, — 
And dumb to make the sacred melody ; 
Related to the whole by high degree. 
Our feeble sound to it we humbly loan ; 
But with the multitude of others thrown 
What difference if one omitted be? 
Hold each his place. The harmony divine 
Will else through one to dissonance attain ; 
Be glad to add to the eternal strain ; 
And know the Player never passes o'er 
A single note. With cause did He assign 
A place to every one upon the score. 



[94] 



XXIX 

And what of man is then the final test? 
Is charity with broad-extending scope, 
The measure of his worth, his mortal best? 
Or may he in his wealth and power hope? 
Doth worldly estimate observe his creed? 
Can he be judged by strength of human will? 
Shall he by action and heroic deed 
Rewarded be, or by his wondrous skill? 
Yes, all of these, and many more beside. 
In little way, the telling trial may be, — 
But most of all shall man in life be tried 
By heart courageous in adversity. 
This is the test, the crucible supreme, 
That ranks him high or low in God's esteem. 



[95] 



XXX 

Most High Adept! Return to us once more, — 
Make manifest again thy holy light, 
Enhancing by example as of yore 
Harassed mankind in sorry earthly plight; 
Phantasmic seem the foes that fretted sore; 
But hymns of joy, our crying in the night; 
Love anagrams, the curses that we swore, — 
As thou, O God-Soul, wert in body dight! 
Voiced full the prayer. — The utterer, at fault, 
An orison for pardon should address; 
Thou wilt forgive, and presently exalt 
Sin-sorrowed impotence from its distress. 
Kept high aloof, — or incarnated new — 
Yet point the way that leads to perfect view. 



[96] 



XXXI 

Eternity of Space — the cosmic stage 

On which the soul's great drama is portrayed; 

Eternity of Time — the Brahmic age 

In which the lines are variously essayed; 

Eternity of Subject — sacred theme 

The Playwright has so subtly dramatized. 

Eternity of Action — the supreme 

Interpretation to be realized. 

All men in turn play seven parts, indeed, — 

A versatility of high design, — 

Through seven acts unfold the plots they read, 

Each role, each scene, demanding art divine. 

Such opportunity denotes the plane 

To which discerning actors may attain. 



[97] 



XXXII 

My soul is visiting from home eternal, 

Sojourning here, but briefly to remain; 

It comes from heights exalted and supernal, 

Which soon or late, 'twill sure again attain. 

There's naught in flesh so hopelessly infernal 

But it hath power to remove the stain ; 

The thought, the word, the hope, the deed 

diurnal. 
Alone its heavenly progress can profane. 
I know it for the Poets all have taught it, 
I know it for Experience has brought it, 
I know it for with Truth my mind has fraught 

it, 
I know it for in Spirit I have sought it, 
I know it for God's intercourse has wrought 

it, 
I know it for All-Deities have thought it. 



[98] 



XXXIII 

WouLDST drag an angel down to satisfy 
The curious longing of a morbid mind? 
Intent some evidence of life to find 
Which, p'raps, beyond the puzzling veil doth 

lie, 
Wouldst lift perforce and brush an edict by? 
More sacrilegious, — wouldst thou, seekers 

blind, 
Attempt some testimony slight to bind 
To matter gross wherewith to prophesy? 
Destruction ! — Such a method to apprise 
The ignorant of the soul's eternal rise. 
Instruct them rather with the thought that they 
Must strive the heights angelic to survey, 
By living up to those diviner skies. 
Where Immortality awaiting lies. 



[99] 



XXXIV 

Within there glows, right fully I'm aware, 
A lovelier light than yet has shed a ray 
Without : I feel its fervid flickering flare 
And curse the dogged opacity of clay. 
From high above there shineth down for aye 
The Parent Flame with ardor to unite 
Unto itself the spark within, but nay — 
The flesh again debars — a hellish spite ! 
Right well I know that, if the bitter blight 
Retarded not the consanguineous gleam. 
That I could view the envied Holy Height 
Along the radiant splendor of the beam. 
Light unto Light is radiant, but between 
Is fixed, till I remove, the blinding screen. 



[100] 



XXXV 

The truth of all eternity abides, 

And you and I Forever-ward are bound ; 

The spirit of divine direction guides 

That by us two the route direct be found; 

The joy of all the universe betides 

Wherever you and I are passing round ; 

The beauty of high holiness provides 

That we shall journey where the stars are 

crowned. 
Come join us as we make our brief sojourning, 
Gird up your loins and have your lamps a-burn- 

ing, 
With eager hearts unto the way be turning, — 
No mite of it regard with evil spurning. 
All's well ! We go — arriving amply earning, 
According as our souls are upward yearning. 



[101] 



XXXVI 

Upon a cross of clay I'm crucified, 

And wounds there are upon my hands and 

feet, — 
A crown of thorns upon my brow is tied. 
My precious blood is shed in battle's heat. 
But I will win redemption and arise, — 
The lower to the higher elevate, — 
Though crucifixion be the sacrifice 
I pay, to know the blest angelic state — 
'Tis worth the agony a hundred-fold: 
This charnel-dungeon — flesh — may perhaps 

detain 
The Self Divine, — It cannot always hold 
What is so foreign to its native strain: 
For you and I are Chris ts, and we must be 
Condemned and crucified, before set free. 



[102] 



XXXVII 

I LONGED for vision of the Great Unseen, 
And sought for Light beyond the blinding 

clay, — 
In life's dark night I wished for dawn of day; 
I scanned the puzzling isthmus drawn between 
The two eternities, — that worshipped mean 
Which none would yield without prolonged de- 
lay. 
Nor none retain but he with pain would pay, — 
I strove to see behind, before the screen. 
But all was vain. My zeal to understand 
The sad or glad condition, from without. 
Was curbed, and turned to meditating doubt. 
At last, lost in despair, I looked within. 
And lo, as flame by necromancy fanned, 
Did eastern Dawn and western Glow begin. 



[103 J 



XXXVIII 

I ASK, O God, for this brief span of life 
A work for which my small equipment suits, 
Such friends as lend true comfort in the strife, 
When earthly efforts yield but failing fruits ; 
A few good books whose contents are designed 
To ease the work, the friendship to promote, 
Upon whose weighted pages I can find 
Exalted thoughts which simple words denote: 
To know my work, to know my books, my 

friends. 
And most of all to know Thee better still, — 
This is the wisdom which all else transcends, 
And this the prayer I beg Thee to fulfil. 
These blessings. Lord, in tender mercy give 
And I content forevermore shall live. 



[104] 



XXXIX 

The restless waves upon the immortal sea 

Are separate only by their form and name, 

In primal being they are one and same 

With ocean, their supreme eternity ; 

Distinction vanishes, when suddenly 

The waves subside and bounding billows tame ; 

Dependent solely on the deep they came. 

But she remains when they have ceased to be. 

One Infinite Existence covers all — 

And you and I, the stars, the moon, the sun 

Are only names and forms of that Great One, — 

We differ in degree and not in kind. 

'Tis change deludes our varied rise and fall 

Upon the universal flood of Mind. 



[105] 



XL 

Adulterated with th' ancestral dust 

Of ages, Earth, O what a tomb thou art ! 

What troubled bones are given to thy trust, 

A prisoned charge, which from thee can depart 

But to return, in cycle foreordained ! 

The all monotonous life which from thee springs 

Is by thy greed eternally enchained, 

As if 'twere something whereto value clings. 

'Tis naught. It holds not one redeeming grace. 

'Tis not a gift thou thinkest to bestow. 

But something thou art powerless to efface, 

Though thou shouldst try till thy dumb breast 

be snow. 
For thou thyself art subject to the laws 
That surely sometime turn effects to cause. 



[106] 



XLI 

Is WEALTH the end, the goal that satisfies 
This life's blind craving for true happiness? 
Or is it fame in pompous, boasting dress 
On which that longed reality relies ? 
Perhaps the soul for perfect knowledge cries 
To gain relief from its inborn distress ; 
Untried religion may the ills suppress. 
Or staid philosophy to aid arise. 
Each one himself the portal's key must find ; 
The lock will yield if honestly 'tis tried. 
And bliss will come when entrance opens wide. 
For me, there's nought that will so surely send 
The rays of Hght, the burdening chains unbind, 
As heart to heart communion with a friend. 



[107] 



XLII 

If it be false, then fragmentary life, — 
Which seemeth sweet in its seductive strife, — 
Is bitterest of man's unvanquished foes. 
Wrecking by guile, tainting with intrigue rife. 
'Twere better far if Gods would not impose, 
Or else some lethal beverage disclose. 
Whereby deserved deliverance to take 
From that which balks just when its promise 

shows. 
And better you and I should now forsake 
The trust we swore so often not to break. 
Forego its love, ideals no more aspire, — 
Forget the mall — like Stoics bear the ache ! — 
Thrum notes of pleasure on the mocking lyre, 
And ere its time, consume life's little fire. 



[108] 



XLIII 

But if 'tis true, then our partitioned lives, 
Which fancied bitterness so often rives. 
Are sweetest of man's single-hearted friends, — 
Purposed for good, howe'er the ill contrives. 
No nobler course for Nature's highest ends. 
No loftier means by which the soul ascends. 
Than human life to God-hood fore-ordained 
By promise evolution's law portends. 
Your love and mine should surer be maintained. 
Its fullest glories here and now be gained, — 
That when God-consciousness we have secured, 
Our merge of souls may richer be explained. 
Let flame forever brilliant be assured, 
That heights which we desire be not obscured. 



[109] 



XLIV 

To be resolved into the elements, — 

With nature's mass united, whence it came, 

And recompounded for renewed ascents, — 

Is all I hope for this mysterious frame: 

The streams and showers their little part will 

claim. 
And mother earth will recognize her clay, 
Some portion too will find the parent flame, 
The wanton breezes some will bear away. 
Each atom then unconscious lives for aye, — 
In zephyr, verdure, diamond-drop, or star; 
No higher immortality I pray. 
Than thus to throw my usefulness afar ; 
If soul there be, — if priest-craft's dream be 

true — 
What better future could to man accrue? 



[110] 



XLV 

I KNOW a man who with despairing cry, 
Attempts his moral chaos to defy, 
And turns his back upon the fated crowd 
To eat and drink, and then, alas, to die. 
Another man I know who is allowed 
To see the light beyond the temporal cloud, 
Who thus allied with hope and duty, takes 
The way that God hath secretly endowed. 
And still another one I knew who quakes 
Upon the path diagonal which makes 
Between the two; now facing here, now there, — 
Debating till the power of choosing breaks. 
These three are all that on Life's highway fare. 
With which one, pray, do you the fruitage 
share ? 



[in] 



XLVI 

Free citizens of heaven are we all, — 

Existing now in true eternity ; 

Though birth and death partition by their wall 

From life that was or life that is to be, 

Yet onward moves the soul majestically, 

Eternal now, eternal to remain, — 

Whate'er its dress, no matter what degree 

Of height or depth may beautify or stain. 

Then cease to strive the future to attain, — 

The present is the future of the past. 

Hast conquered it? Prove thou thy worth to 

gain 
God's blessing now, thy soul's wealth is 

amassed ! 
Thou art conditioned now and here to dwell 
Just as thou wilt, in heaven or hell. 



[112] 



XLVII 

Thou shalt not kill ! — both church and state 

declare, 
The law of man, the law of God have share 
In forcing to an issue the decree. 
And break themselves the statute held most rare ! 
Transgressed, both sanction equal penalty, 
Both waive the edict consequentially. 
In coldest blood the criminal they slay. 
And call the hellish deed a remedy ! 
Do unto others as you would that they 
Should do to you in each and every way: 
Interpreting a code to suit a whim 
Is despotism in its direst sway. 
The man you kill, the law you thus bedim 
Give guilt of that for which you punish him. 



[113] 



XLVIII 

Ay, worse art thou than victim thou hast slain: 
Deserving more the calumny and pain — 
Conviction, prison, scaffold or the chair, — 
Before thy time thy precious blood to drain. 
For he all doubtless in a mad despair, 
Bred burning of a provocation rare, 
O'er-stepped the law with semblance of excuse, 
Else briefly of the horror unaware. 
But thou ! — Deliberately to reproduce 
In stagey setting all the crime's abuse. 
Wide-heralding the time thou wilt commit. 
Far-publishing the bayed man's pleas pro- 
fuse, — 
Thou art of murderers the most unfit 
And dost appear to take delight in it. 



[114] 



XLIX 

Thou canst not kill, e'en though thou wouldst 

essay ! 
What, stop the soul on its majestic way? 
Thou mayst retard its progress for a time. 
But never canst thou permanently stay; 
Mayst strip of flesh, by bloody, murderous 

crime, 
Mayst blight it cruelly in its Godly prime, — 
But kill it ? Never ! Thou art impotent 
To make or unmake aught that is sublime ! 
'Tis caged in clay — by Deity 'twas pent 
That it could solve the mystery of ascent 
And unto Deity again arise! 
Thinkst thou it can from such a Source be rent? 
Ah no! 'Twill come again, whate'er defies, 
And journey surely onward to the skies. 



[116] 



Desire and passion are not bred of clay, 
They visit here but briefly to remain, 
That life the low unto the high may train. 
And then to better schooling send away. 
How long so e'er probationers they stay 
To what fair heights they later may attain, 
Depends upon the depth and hue of stain. 
And eff*ort to absolve it day by day. 
Who then would kill, in hate or punishment, — 
Untutored passion free before its time, — 
Taints those let live by evil forces spent, 
God's plan in man assails by crafty crime ; 
This truth remains, whatever the intent, 
Nor state, nor person, is held innocent. 



[116] 



LI 

Not by a god external was my soul 

Upon its endless journey fore-ordained; 

Majestically it sweeps unto its goal, 

Or high or low, by inner guidance trained. 

Without, may be a model to extol. 

Without, the inspiration be obtained; 

Within myself the power lieth whole. 

Within, the god through whom the truth is 

gained. 
Predestination emanates from me, 
What I have been declares what I shall be, 
And what I am, is, by divine decree, 
My thought, my word, my act, in summary. 
By this stern law my future is foreknown, — 
The course of all my conduct clearly shown. 



[117] 



LII 

And wert thou ever by the brilliant mom, 
When nature's loveliness was full ateem, 
Enchanted so, thou couldst not tell the dream 
Which on thy soul so vividly was borne 
To thee asleep ? And wert thou then forlorn 
That, pondering deep, thou couldst not make it 

seem 
Aught else but unreality's faint gleam — 
Intangible — far off — of being shorn ? 
Clear memory of the vision, Day defies. 
As living present negatives the past, 
Although dull images of it arise 
Like sign-posts of a journey long and vast. 
Dost doubt the dream which thou canst not 

restore ? 
Dost doubt the soul has gone this way before? 



[118] 



LIII 

Man is himself the master of his fate, 

The real designer of his circling way; 

'Tis he alone must bear the onerous weight 

Of causing sin and being to it a prey. 

He shapes tomorrow by his deed today, 

And on and on his future thus must grow. 

His past did then the same iron rule obey, — 

For segments do the whole of circles show. 

As in an endless chain each link we know 

To be like those that follow or precede. 

So in man's life doth each short day bestow 

The product of his past, his future need. 

And lives like days by Janus views are bound, — 

Each one but holds dependent middle ground. 



[119] 



LIV 

Thou art desire, and thy desire is will ; 
As these may be, so also is thy deed. 
And thou shalt reap but of the self-sown seed,— 
The harvest then doth thy desire fulfil. 
Relentless Law! whose spirit should instil 
A habit of desire from evil freed; 
Complied with, yielding very Life as meed. 
When violated, destined but to kill. 
Remember then, if given to passion's fire. 
If struggling in the maelstrom of thine ire, 
If tempted for possessions to aspire. 
Or harboring base revenge and hatred dire, — 
What radiates from thee as mere desire 
Through will and deed thou shalt at last ac- 
quire. 



[120] 



LV 

Not in the threadbare robes of ritualist 

Who in an outworn ceremony treads, 

Nor in the steepled edifice which sheds 

Aristocratic splendor, doth exist 

The Deity. Nor yet is eucharist, 

With symboling wines and blocked, unleavened 

breads. 
Before which men in ignorance bow their heads. 
The place where God doth keep His sacred 

tryst. 
But in ourselves Divinity resides, 
And we must realize its inner light. 
Ere we can hope to reach the envied height. 
No other man can save. Each one must gain 
The self-messiahship, which darkness hides, 
But which, sought well, the weakest may attain. 



[121] 



LVI 

The sea of knowledge is so deep and great, 

We can but gather pebbles on its shore 

In one brief life. The wisest can no more. 

'Tis therefore best to calmly meditate 

Which sands have from its depths been upcast 

straight. 
That one the gems of Ocean's choicest store 
May find, interpret, study, and explore, — 
Thus truly strive the source to penetrate. 
But how shall these be truly recognized? 
What is the deepest knowledge — who shall 

say? 
To this sage Socrates long since did pray 
The Delphic Oracle for answer sound; 
Then came the word, forever to be prized. 
To know thyself is knowledge most profound." 



[122] 



LVII 

God is one infinite Reality, 
Eternally beneficent and good; 
Within, without, enduring patiently, — 
Unknown, unknowable, yet understood. 
And Man is part of His immortal soul, 
Between two evolutions justly thrown. 
Bound to attain to the Nirvanic goal, 
Advanced, retarded, by himself alone. 
A Law Divine, of justice absolute 
The universe and all within it guides ; 
Dispensing woe to him who would dispute, 
But glorifying him who quiet abides. 
God, Man, and Law — the basic trinity 
Of truth eternal and divinity. 



[123] 



LVIII 

I KNOW that I have seen it all before, 
And felt and heard and sensed in subtle way, 
The flowers that bloom beside the cottage door, 
The bird that sings its blithest summer lay ; 
The field, the brook, the hill, the vale, the shore. 
The sea, the sky, and all their moods essay — 
The swell of June, the white of winter frore, 
The height and depth of soul — all these, and 

more: 
The pressure of thy hand, thy constant smile. 
The heart that throbs in unison with mine. 
The mutual merge of spirit that the while 
Exalts the joy at friendship's golden shrine, — 
Yes, all have been before I know right well. 
But how, or when, or where, I cannot tell. 



[124] 



LIX 

From God it came, to God it will return, 
Though many be its changes on the way 
And hard the struggle; yet 'twill win the day 
And follow out the mandates wisely stern. 
Inherited perfection doth it yearn. 
It must attain, if fully 'twould obey, 
To truth eternal, take what time it may. 
Before it can again its God-head earn. 
Mere phases in its course are birth and death,— 
The boundaries of a single brief attempt 
To prove its worth from clay to be exempt. 
The trial it had as birth unlocked the door 
We do not know. But, ceasing mortal breath, 
Each one is master of its future store. 



[125] 



LX 

'TwAS in the lovely Devon summertime 
That I my lady's graces first did see; 
There seems to be on earth no sunnier clime 
Than where she dwells in sweet simplicity. 
And Devonshire, I know, would never be 
The half so grand were she not dwelling there; 
Yet she might not seem quite so dear to me 
Were she not housed midst Devon's beauties 

fair. 
But whether Devon grants its grandeur free, 
Or she her magic charm to Devon gives 
I cannot tell. I only know that she 
Reflects the heavenly place in which she lives. 
God gave her just for Devon, 'twould appear. 
And just for her did He give Devonshire! 



[126] 



LXI 

To part from thee was more than sadness, Dear, 
The heart sank down with bitterness untold, 
The grief was far too deep for fickle tear 
That did my very soul for thee enfold. 
'Twas like uprooting trees from solid earth, 
Or like dissevering corpses from a tomb, 
Or liker still, — the tearing out at birth 
Of early child from unprepared womb. 
Yea, worse than these the anguish of that time 
When Fate ordained that I should part from 

thee, 
'Twas death in life — a misery sublime — 
Which in the heart shall ever nursed be. 
Blest be the circumstance that hath decreed 
That human hearts can for each other bleed. 



[127] 



LXII 

The madness of my love doth still confound me, 
And sweet contentment is a thing no more; 
Solicitude and longing still surround me 
With apprehension never known before. 
Those watchful, careful, trustful friends around 

me. 
Whose kindnesses all past ills could restore 
Since this abashed discomfiture has found me 
Are helpless now to solace as of yore. 
Nor would I yet have missed the sacred pleasure. 
Regrets for which now cloud my youthful 

mind, — 
The cup was filled with sweetness out of measure, 
I drank the joyful contents unconfined. 
And rather than have missed that liquid treasure 
To pains and pangs of grief I'll be resigned. 



[128] 



;• V 29 19S0 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



t^ov 29 t91G 



